Bandito Brothers goes on-set

I had a chance to speak with a half dozen post pros that are working on-set this month. But they’re not supervising VFX shots or troubleshooting greenscreen shoots. These professionals are overseeing the acquisition of footage in a tapeless workflow.

Craig Mumma of LA’s MonkeyButtVFX defines his role as that of a “digital acquisition supervisor.” He uses a Codex recorder to capture material, create backups and deliver files to editorial. See our feature on page 32 for more on “On-Set Post.”

Jacob Rosenberg, CTO/partner at LA’s Bandito Brothers, says the duties of an on-set media manager is to get files to editorial. “Our media managers come from the post side of things,” he explains. “We find that a post trained and minded media manager, who knows the editorial process, usually does a much better job.”

Bandito Brothers’ media manager is responsible for the acquisition of all of the file formats from every camera. He’ll come with an HP mobile workstation featuring the DreamColor display, along with USB 3.0 and Express ports. “The Express ports are great if you are shooting with the Alexa, and have an SxS card,“ he explains. “USB 3.0 is perfect because of the speeds that you get going to USB 3.0 drives. The DreamColor monitor is great.”

Bandito Brothers specializes in spots and recently worked on projects for BF Goodrich, starring Shaun White, Yokohama, AAA and Mattel, many of which involved shooting with Canon’s 5D. They are also using the 5D for a self-produced feature that’s in the works.

“We’ve made a name for ourselves with how we’ve developed the post process for the 5D Mark II,” he says, acknowledging that the camera has some shortcomings. “If you are making Avatar or The Departed and want to have 10-bit color space, clearly that camera is going to present some challenges. But if you are shooting in controlled environments and know what you get and know your post process, we’ve made magic with the 5D. We have commercials that are airing on television that were shot with the 5D. We know the strengths and weaknesses, and how to get around some of those things.”